posted 12-13-2013 09:20 AM
The Associated Press reports on the loss of one of their own, Harry Rosenthal, "who covered America's golden age of space exploration." He was 86.

...space travel was Rosenthal's passion, and he was witness to more than 30 manned NASA flights, including the first moon walk and most of the Apollo missions. He also covered the Challenger shuttle tragedy, writing in the aftermath of the explosion: "Everybody said it had to happen sometime, but when it did, it was too terrible to believe."

Covering a 1981 space shuttle landing, Rosenthal looked to the heavens to see Columbia "bursting like a silver wraith through mottled California skies."

One of his greatest ambitions, never realized, was to be the first journalist to go into space.

"During the long, grinding days of manned space flight, Harry was like a campfire burning brightly — people gathered around him for warmth and light," recalled Paul Recer, a retired AP science writer who covered space with Rosenthal. "He was generous with suggestions and wise counsel. We were all better journalists because Harry Rosenthal was there."

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